Anchorage Daily News

SEWARD -- Preparing for this year's Mount Marathon had a touch of mystery for Seward's experienced mountain-running queen, Cedar Bourgeois.

She hadn't run a single tune-up race in advance. Only by word of mouth and newspaper clippings did Bourgeois learn that a mountain-racing rookie from Anchorage was on a roll this season, a wild card ready to challenge her quest for a fifth straight title.

"This year was different because I knew about Holly," Bourgeois said of Holly Brooks, an Alaska Pacific University nordic ski coach who won the uphill-only Bird Ridge and Government Peak races earlier this season. "That was exciting for me."

What began as a perfect morning for mountain running -- overcast sky with temperatures in the mid 50s -- ended with a familiar scene for thousands of spectators gathered along Lowell Canyon Road, Jefferson Avenue and Fourth Avenue between the 3,022-foot mountain and Resurrection Bay.

Bourgeois, 32, blazed her fastest downhill ever and completed the race that is just shy of 3.5 miles in 52 minutes, 11 seconds, the sixth-fastest women's time in Mount Marathon history. She joined Nina Kemppel as the only women in race history to win five straight titles.

"I was in control more than usual," Bourgeois said. "I think I'm getting used to this thing, dealing with emotions and knowing what's coming up."

Brooks, 26, crossed the finish line 3:18 later, not terribly disappointed with her second-place finish. After all, she came here prepared to learn how to handle the mountain's sand, scree, shale and snow that rewards experience.

And the rookie was up against a woman that racers call Seward's "mountain goat."

"Hasn't she won on average by 4 1/2 minutes?" Brooks asked. "Then I took about minute off of it."

Bourgeois' victory inched her closer to tying Kemppel, a nine-time champion, for the most Mount Marathon titles. A former Olympic nordic skier, Kemppel won eight straight times from 1996-2003.

Winning nine is a mark Bourgeois plans to pursue some day. But on Friday, she focused on staying relaxed and using her Mount Marathon savvy to rack up victory No. 5.

"Congratulations, Miss Mountain Goat," said Dori Hollingsworth, who greeted her muddy, sweaty niece with a giant hug.

Minutes before their celebration, Bourgeois crossed the finish line and dropped to her knees in fatigue. She had a heck of a time where the snow high up on the mountain meets scree but still managed to finish with her second-fastest time ever.

Bourgeois said she cruised down the 3,022-foot mountain in 12 minutes, 11 seconds, pulling away from Brooks on the descent.

The most challenging section, however, was one long patch of snow.

Bourgeois estimated 400 yards of the downhill was spent sliding on her rear end in the snow.

"I think I left some of my butt on the mountain," Bourgeois laughed. "I was going pretty fast. I had one foot out and one foot under my butt.

"I've never had to deal with that much snow."

Near the end of the snowfield, she purposefully slowed down. "So weird" is how she described the transition into soft scree.

"You can get tripped up, and I just wanted to be careful," she said. "It wasn't so soft that you could just sink in to stop. I was almost worried that I'd spin around and start spinning head first."

Lisa Hartman's transition was an all-out scary ride that ended with blood trickling down her leg.

The 35-year-old Seward runner hit the snow with wobbly legs, then slid down the steep grade and stopped awkwardly when a rock split open the skin just below her right kneecap. She regained her balance and kept going.

"There was no time to stop," said Hartman, who finished 13th in 1:04:58. "There's no point, especially when you have people breathing down your neck."

Teresa Brady of White Salmon, Wash., told herself before the race she would push herself to the limit up to the 3,022-foot peak. But once Brady got there, the former Anchorage runner wasn't quite sure of herself how to cope with the snow.

"I didn't get up the mountain all year, so I had no clue about the downhill," she said. "I hung up there on top and had to ponder the whole idea for a while. I stayed at least a minute. Maybe more."

Still, Brady finished sixth in 1:01:45. But her time was three minutes off her 40-49 age-group record (58:42) set last year.

Mary Hensel of Anchorage broke the 70-79 age-group record when the 70-year-old finished in 1:57:02.

Young Denali Foldager of Seward finished an impressive fifth (1:01:26) in her senior race debut. She hung with Bourgeois and Brooks to the base of the mountain and kept them in sight.

"Coming down I saw them and said, 'Is this happening? Man, I can't believe it!' " Foldager said.

Hartman, a nine-time veteran of the 81-year-old race, is always impressed how Bourgeois handles the mountain's always-evolving conditions.

"She's unstoppable," Hartman said. "Hopefully one day she can get that record."

Holding a bouquet of flowers, Bourgeois enjoyed her fifth straight victory with her two grandmothers, aunt and two children.

This was the first year Bourgeois' son, Zen, 8, and daughter Coral, 7, understood all the hard work their mother has put into winning Mount Marathon.

"They were little munchkins for my first victory," Bourgeois said. "Back then they were like, 'Mom why are you always running?' But this year was different. They're able to understand it more.

"They actually told me 'good luck.' "

Considering all the variables, mom used experience and motivation from the up-and-coming Brooks to prevail again.

"I think it's an easier race when you're not psyched out by conditions," she said. "That's mountain running. That's Mount Marathon."

Find Daily News sports reporter Kevin Klott at adn.com/sports/kklott or 257-4335.

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